Renewable energy demand rises to record 2.7% of global consumption

By Claudia Assis

Renewable power has cut for itself a bigger share of the world’s energy demand pie, but coal, which remained the fastest growing fossil fuel, and oil, also saw demand grow in 2013, BP PLC said Monday.

Coal consumption increased by 3% in 2013, below its yearly average of 3.9% but enough to put coal’s share of world energy consumption at 30%, its highest since 1970, BP said in its 63rd annual statistical review on Monday. The review is an industry benchmark.

Demand from renewable energy sources, including wind and solar, rose to a record 2.7% of global energy consumption, up from 0.8% a decade ago, the energy company said.

Solar power generation rose 33%. Solar’s overall share of global power generation remains low at 0.5%, “but it is starting to have a noticeable impact in terms of sources of power generation growth,” BP said. Wind power generation grew more slowly, or 18.5% during the same period.

Overall, the world has become more energy hungry — energy consumption and production reached records for every fuel type except nuclear power, BP said. For all fossil fuels, global consumption rose more rapidly than production, BP said.

The U.S. oil boom continued — last year, the U.S. had the world’s largest increase in oil production for the second straight year, up by 1.1 million barrels a day. U.S. oil production, above 10 million barrels a day last year, reached its highest since 1986. U.S. demand for oil also rose last year, by 400,000 barrels a day, the fastest of any country last year and surpassing China’s demand for the first time in 15 years.

Oil remains the world’s leading fuel, with 33% of global energy demand, but lost market share to other fuels for the 14th consecutive year.

Global oil consumption rose 1.4% in 2013, just above its historical average. The U.S. imported fewer barrels of oil a day — the 6.5 million barrels a day it imported last year is just over half what it imported in 2005. China surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest net oil importer, bringing in 7 million barrels a day.

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